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1. My biggest cause for failure was taking the pf cakes out of the jar early. I dont mean a large portion of the cake was un colonized(never do), im talking area the size of an ant or smaller. I thought it would be ok..i was wrong...it got contaminated. Mostly with colbweb(common on raspberries, which i have accidently eaten taste like dirt).. which isnt hurtful to you, but the cakes grow no mushrooms. Also, if the cake must be taken out early, never put them in the same area as a healthy fully colonized cake. Dunking is also good to do.

2. After the cake is fully colonized wait 2 weeks or more. The more you wait, the stronger the fungus will be, and the more food it eats. The fungus if more likely to produce mushrooms if it has a small or non existing food source. This is because, in nature, if the fungus has consumed all it can, it will produce a mushroom to release spores and pass on its genes(the goal of all life) in hope to find another food source.

3. My second biggest cause of failure was having wrong conditions in my terrarium. Its not because i did not know what they were, but that everything i read was way to complicated and unnecessary. I bought a cool mist humidifier and tried to hook it up, i tried perlite(too messy), i bought a hydrometer the whole mf nine yards. The only time i succeeded was when i said fuck this shit, im putting a few wet(oversaturated, more than damp) paper towels on the bottom of a plastic container. I threw away my digital hydro meter and just looked in side the terrarium. I figured if there was condensation on the sides and on the top of the container, and it looked steamy it was enough. And it was, i was successful. Indirect sunlight is best.

4. The most important, which has been repeated many times, is patience. I failed growing for 9 months. By Developing your own technique by trial and error and using other peoples advice as guidelines you will succeed. ALWAYS WASH YOUR HANDS BEFORE YOU HADLE A CAKE, even if it is 100 percent colonized. Just because a cake is 100 percent colonized dosent mean it cannot get contaminated.

Actually, vermiculite is a good idea. After you dunk the cake role it in dry vermiculite(pre-sterilized if you like) then mist with distilled water till damp. Increases the pinning of the cakes exponentially.

Stick a dunked and rolled cake in a poor mans pod and you will be AMAZED at the results.

Quote: im thinkin of placing my cakes on top of a moist layer of verm, is that just asking for contam?

It actually works quite well. When my friend was doing cakes he would fill the inverted plastic lid from a 6 oz. yogurt container with damp verm and then place the cake on it. He would also add 1/4" of damp verm to the top of the cake.

Do a forum search for the double end casing tek.

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Fascism (fash'izem) n. A governmental system marked by a centralized dictatorship, stringent socioeconomic controls, and often belligerent nationalism. see also: the Bush Administration.

like the tips....but man on man just dump perlite and water in a rubbermaid container and wait.......your cakes will pin like crazy, and i got the best yields with letting the cake sit straight on the perlite itself

You can leave them in the jar and they will pin and grow mushrooms too. Or place them in a slightly larger jar for more room. You don't even need perlite. It will work, but that does not mean it's a better setup. Use whatever you feel comfortable with, or your needs require.

But, the more complicated it is, the more problems can arise. Every newbie should take that into account.

thanks for the tips artifice, im on my first grow and i got some questions, would u like me to post or PM you with them? Peace, shroom on.

--------------------"With a bit of luck, his life was ruined forever. Always thinking that just behind some narrow door in all of his favorite bars, men in red woolen shirts are getting incredible kicks from things he'll never know."